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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · rest · rule · shower · club · spell

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. spell — magic
  4. shower — to wash
  5. rest — a break
  6. rule — a law
  7. spell — a short time
  8. wound — an injury
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rest — what's left
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. club — a group
  14. spell — letters
  15. shower — rain
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com